Chapter five. - Chasing an explanation.

The door broke open and he stumbled into the room. Looking up as he did so he caught sight of Evelyn fumbling to put some kind of gown around her shoulders.

"O'Connell!" she cried a second later after recovering, "What in God's name do you think you are doing?"

Although a little surprised and shocked by the 'O'Connell', as he had thought them to be on first name terms by now, Rick grinned wildly.

"I told you I wanted to talk," he said.

"You- you can't come in here!" Evelyn argued fruitlessly, taking a step backwards as Rick stepped further into the room.

"I think it's a little late for that," he admitted sheepishly as he eyed the broken door.

Evie was scared now, really scared; the violent Rick of her dreams was at the forefront of her mind- so much so she could almost feel the handprint burning into her cheek. She took another step back.

"Evie?" Rick called, concerned by her actions. "What's going on?"

"No...no...nothing," she stumbled as she moved yet further back

Rick just raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Nothing," she insisted again, "I'm just...just tired."

Rick stared at her for a moment and, noting the weary look in her eyes, decided to let the point go.

"Ok," he said, "but I still want to talk to you." Crossing to one of the couches in the room he patted the back of it. "Will you sit down?"

Worried by his request and the serious look on his face, Evelyn nodded, but instead of moving to the chair Rick had indicated Evie moved further away and sat in one of the wicker chairs by the window.

"Okay," Rick breathed, nodding his head. She obviously wasn't going to make this easy for him. Watching Evelyn as he crossed the room, however, Rick realised he had never felt surer about doing what he was about to.

"Evie" he began as he knelt down next to her. "I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe and make you happy."

Evie looked down at Rick, surprised by his words, but as she met his soft blue eyes she felt her fright begin to fade away. "I know," she nodded, smiling gently.

Encouraged, Rick took her hand in his.

"I love you," he continued, "more than I ever thought possible."

Evie leant forward in her chair. She really liked what Rick was saying.

Taking a deep breath Rick pulled the ring from his pocket and held it so she could see it.

"Evelyn Carnahan," he asked, "will you marry me?"

The minute the words were out Rick held his breath and waited for an answer.

Evelyn felt sick to her stomach; as she had leant forward an intimate pain had shot through her body. "No," she whispered and pulled her hand from his. "No."

Now it was Rick's turn to feel sick. His mouth fell just a little open as his entire body went numb within a second, and he was pretty sure his heart had just died in his chest. She said no, his mind screamed again and again. She said no!

Evie turned her eyes away from Rick; she couldn't bear to see the pain in his eyes.

"I...I..." Rick stumbled to regain the use of his vocal cords. "I asked Jonathan," he told her, in a faint hope that it might matter.

"I'm sorry," Evie whispered as she stood up and desperately tried not to cry at the hopefulness in Rick's voice. "I can't be your wife- I can't be anyone's." Slowly she began to walk away from him, and when she thought herself far enough away she added, "Not now anyway," quietly to herself.

Standing only seconds after Evelyn had, Rick followed her. "What do you mean not now?" he asked loudly, smelling a rat.

Surprised by his close proximity, Evie froze next to the sofas.

Grabbing her shoulders Rick spun her around so she was facing him. "What do you mean not now?" he repeated forcefully. "What's happened?"

Evie didn't respond- she couldn't, she was too panicked to do anything.

Shocked by the alarm in her eyes, Rick immediately let go.

"My God, I'm sorry," he apologised as he realised the ferocity of his actions. "I'm sorry."

Stumbling backwards as he let go, the back of Evelyn's legs hit the side of the chair and she sat down heavily.

"Evie," Rick moaned softly and knelt down in front of her once again. "You're not just tired, are you? Look, please tell me what's going on. I love you, and I want to help."

Looking up at Rick as he spoke, Evie's heart ached to believe his words, but as she opened her mouth to reply, Imhotep's voice roared through her head.

No one can ever love you as I have, the voice broke to laugh, and when he knows, the human won't even want to try.

Evie's stomach lurched as it always did when she remembered the mummy.

"You can't," she said to Rick eventually. "You can't."

"Cant what?" Rick asked straight back, "Can't love you? Or can't help you?"

"Both," Evelyn sighed, her face falling.

"What if," Rick continued, "you let me be the judge of that?"

"No!" Evelyn shook her head and got to her feet. She couldn't be so close to Rick anymore. Quickly she crossed to the window before continuing. "You cant help me, you cant love me you... you don't know-" Stopping herself short, Evelyn realised what she had almost done.

Standing up quickly, Rick was concerned by what she had said- and even more so about what she hadn't. Turning around he followed her to the window.

"Know what?" he asked as he did so.

Evie kept her back to him and her gaze out the window; her mind was tearing itself apart.

"Know what?" Rick demanded once again as he reached her. "Evie, tell me!"

Unable to take anymore, Evelyn cracked.

"Know...know...what he did," she whispered eventually through jagged breaths.

Rick's own throat went dry; he knew immediately who she was talking about.

"What did he do?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.

It was the question Evelyn had been dreading, but she had neither the physical nor mental energy to avoid it any longer.

"He..." She paused, unable to believe what she was doing. "He hurt me," she said slowly, enunciating each word to make sure it came out.

"Oh," Rick said with a sigh of relief. "It's ok, I know."

"WHAT!?" Evelyn's mind and mouth screamed at the same time, as she spun around to face Rick "You- you know? How?"

Rick stared at Evelyn for a moment, surprised by her reaction- and lack of one; as she had spun around Evie had smacked her thigh hard against the near table, and yet she had shown to sign of even noticing.

"Erm, Jonathan, told me about the bruises on your shoulders," Rick admitted reluctantly. Stepping towards her he continued, "Are you ok?"

Evelyn exhaled heavily, stepping backwards away from Rick as she did so.

"Yes," she lied, "I'm fine." Although she knew Rick had misunderstood what she had been trying to tell him, suddenly she had no desire to put him right. Having had a second to think she couldn't believe she had been so stupid as to even try to tell him.

"Evie?" Rick asked suspiciously. "That wasn't what you meant was it?" Suddenly he was full of worry again. Quickly he moved around the corner of the table, towards her. "My god," he exclaimed as he did so, "you're hurt."

Following his eyes Evie looked down and saw a large red mark defiantly staining her white nightgown. For the first time she realised there was a burning pain in her thigh.

"Of course it was," Evie bluffed, and started moving backwards again, edging around the far end of the table.

"Evie!" Rick scolded as authoritatively as he could, and began following her around the table too. "You're hurt, let me see."

"No!" Evie argued, and continued to move away.

Not willing to take that as an answer, Rick continued to follow, effectively chasing her around the table. Hampered by the pain now shooting through her leg, Evie failed to notice as Rick changed his tack- and direction. Suddenly he was right in front of her.

"Stop!" Rick commanded as she tried to turn away quickly. Exasperated when she ignored him, Rick reached out and grabbed her arm. Pulling her towards him he repeated his command. "Evie, stop."

Spinning around involuntarily, Evie's weight shifted on to her injured leg and she winced audibly.

Seeing, and hearing, her distress prompted Rick in to action. "Right, that's it," he said. Almost picking her up, he forced her to walk backwards until her back hit the internal wall, which separated the reception room from the bedroom. "I'm having a look at that leg," he told her as his large body pinned her smaller one against the wall.

Evie was scared now, really scared. Partially because she was terrified of what might happen if he did look, and partially because Rick had just pulled his flick knife from his back pocket.

"No," she begged, her terror consuming her as she realised she couldn't get away. "Please no."

"Hey," Rick soothed as he felt his beloved begin to tremble in his arms. "Hey," he repeated, and used his free hand to tilt her chin softly back so he could look into her eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you," he swore, "I love you, remember?"

Evelyn nodded just slightly. She was tired, and standing there in Rick's arms the last of her fight disappeared out the door and sank deep into the hot desert sand.

He loves me, she began chanting over the evil laughter that started in her head, as she felt Rick's hands move down her body. He loves me, he loves me, he loves me...